OLINT Local Offices Closed

We now have the letter sent to OLINT club members earlier this morning. The first thing that the letter confirms is a rumor that the Braemar Avenue based Club Member Care Office in Jamaica would be closed as of July 14, 2008. It appears that threats, including a bomb threat, have been issued to staff members. We are not sure if a report has been made to the Police. The letter reads as follows:

Dear Club Members,

This e mail is addressed to Club Members as we are primarily concerned with responding to our Club Members’ needs and those who have stood by us over the years.

It is with some regret that we advise that, as a result of threats to staff members including a bomb threat within the last few days which is being taken seriously, the Club Member Care Office will be closed to the public as of Monday July 14, 2008. Efforts are being made to address the matter and we will advise you further. All customer care lines and e-mail lines will be opened to facilitate communication with you notwithstanding this safety measure which we have had to impose.

We fully appreciate that this sort of behaviour may well flow from the failure of the Club to honour recent encashment requests in a timely manner including our most recent efforts. The fact is that the last 18 months have been testing ones for the club, as we were clearly faced with conspiratorial scheme(s) since 2006, designed for us to fail by causing a run, to drive us out of business and out of Jamaica. That result would no doubt have brought satisfaction to regulators and bankers who by the methodology of their efforts could have no other intent. We have however fought these efforts strenuously and as we fought, additional responses seem to have been orchestrated locally and abroad, not the least of which is the effort at closing of our accounts which service our Jamaican Club Members.

Indeed it is no secret that since March 2006 the Club has had to face serious challenges all of which have been threatening its viability. It started with the FSC raid, the sudden threatened closure of the customer service accounts by local Banks and all the ensuing legal battles which still continue. The fact is that the constant negative and speculative reports have wreaked havoc on us. The effect, if not the purpose of these orchestrated speculative reports, is that collectively, they are intended and do cause ever increasing levels of encashment, which no sound financial operation can withstand indefinitely.

These negative and speculative press reports have put a strain on the management of the fund and the fund has come under more and more scrutiny which has also itself been triggered by the increased encashment demands. The reckless and prejudicial use of National Futures Association (NFA) report which was not against us but only mentioned us en passant, while  not providing any evidence whatsoever but speculation, caused, as if by well timed design, further pressure on the fund.

We take much of the blame for failing to provide you with clarity on this issue. The fact is that it is difficult to deal with the public relations fall out in a matter such as this. This because every document or communication sent to you in confidence in order to provide relevant and necessary information ends up in the media or in some further affidavit in an attempt to prejudice the cases that have been legitimately defended or prosecuted, with the ultimate aim of benefiting you the Club Members. The patently false Jamaica Observer report that there was a complaint against us by the National Futures Association (NFA) is just one such example.

The thrust of the litigation has been to discredit Olint as being in receipt of criminal property and or otherwise involved in money laundering without any evidence. In effect that allegation is being made against each Club Member because we could only be receiving criminal property from you or laundering funds from you. You know differently, we know differently but we need time and must go through the justice system in order to prove this. Let me place on record that the Club has always operated on the Forex market, which is not in Jamaica. The ultimate benefit to you is to bring about a new financial market place that is in interests of the ordinary citizen and not only the traditional banks that seem only keen on maintaining Billion dollar profit levels.

Audited financial statements are an essential aspect of business but the manner of use by the local Banks against us is a ruse. We are not borrowing money from the banks. Nevertheless we have since the 19th December 2007 been making efforts to appoint auditors. You will appreciate that they too would be concerned about the reputational risks for them as against the type of wild allegations being made. Reputable international auditors prefer to take no chance at all as a result of which we have been in dialogue with reputable local auditors who appear willing to audit the accounts. This is necessary because with the increased negative pressure and press including the alleged NFA investigation, we have suffered the inevitable whereby there is now an overwhelming run on the fund that it seems prudent for us to complete the appointment process so that we can determine with precision what is due to
members. 

We have done our best and will continue to do our best to meet obligations to our members who have been patient.

Over the next few days you will each receive individual letters which set out the future direction of the Club and how the past year and the current state of affairs will affect each of you.

The letter, does not address the pressing question of where the money is and when people will be paid.

Related

• Olint, is it the broker’s fault?(update)
• No Money No Deh
• Martinez’s (I-Trade) in Trouble with NFA – Ingrid Loiten, David Smith named (updated)
• OLINT in more trouble (RJR)